Wednesday, September 26, 2007

WOODLEY Sports returned home from their big day out at Gigg Lane on Saturday with a well-deserved point.

The Steelmen travelled to take on FC United at Bury’s ground, and in front of a bumper 2,283 crowd, secured a 1-1 draw.

Nick Robinson fired Woodley into the lead on 33 minutes, but Rory Patterson levelled matters for the Rebel Reds just before the interval.

The point means that Woodley remain well set in seventh place in the UniBond division one north table.

Boss Chris Willcock said: "It was a great day out, a great occasion for the management, players, and our fans, who tried their best to make themselves heard.

"We started the game brightly and when we took the lead, we looked well in control.

"But a mad moment from one of our defenders let Patterson in for the equaliser, and after the break both sides pretty much cancelled one another out.

"We gave a really good account of ourselves, and could even have gone on to win it late on, but we missed a really good chance."

Woodley are back in Cup mode now though. Last night [Tues] they travelled to Conference North neighbours Stalybridge Celtic for a Cheshire Senior Cup first round tie, then on Saturday Willcock’s men head to little-known Horden CW for an FA Cup second qualifying round tie, where £3,500 is up for grabs for the victors.

Willcock added: "We’re well capable of winning at Horden, but we will have to be careful.

"If we don’t apply ourselves properly there could be a potential banana skin there for us.

"We’ll show them some respect. They’ve not conceded many this season, but they’ve not scored many either so we’ll go there confident."

If Saturday’s FA Cup game is drawn, the replay will take place at Cheadle Town’s Park Road stadium next Tuesday, October 2.